One of the interesting things about copyright is that, as more and more beloved characters and stories from childhood enter public domain, the more unique takes on those characters and stories we’re getting. A big trend in that regard, particularly when it comes to characters that are the center of some of Disney’s most beloved animated classics, is that those characters are getting the horror treatment. Earlier this year, Pinocchio joined the latest wave of those horror-twisted childhood tales and now, the upcoming film just got a bloody, terrifying new trailer.
The next installment of the Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU) aka the Poohniverse, Pinocchio: Unstrung just got a brand-new trailer this week (via Dread Central). While the reimagining of the classic tale of a wooden puppet doll and his deep desire to become a real boy was already scary enough, this new trailer takes things to unsettling new places and will have you squirming. Check it out for yourself below.
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Pinocchio: Unstrung Looks Like Pure Nightmare Fuel (And There’s More Poohniverse to Come)
Image via Jagged Edge Productions
To put it bluntly, Pinocchio: Unstrung looks like nightmare fuel, which is very much in keeping with the TCU. Previous installments in the franchise, such as Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and it’s sequel, as well as Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Bambi: The Reckoning were all pretty bloody and brutal films that were distinctly not like their family-friendly counterparts. However, there’s something uniquely unsettling about a puppet quite literally skinning people alive and extracting teeth to give itself a real smile. Robert Englund’s Freddy Kruger-like take on The Cricket who encourages Pinocchio in these brutal exploits is also full-on horrifying. While we’ve seen slightly darker takes on Pinocchio before (most specifically with the stop-motion version from Guillermo del Toro) this might be the darkest spin yet.
But it’s also just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Poohniverse. A third Winne-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey film is on the horizon as is a demented crossover film, Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble which is expected to release this year. In development are films that could take the franchise even darker (if you can imagine anything darker than a bloodthirsty Pinocchio). Movies based on Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, and even Mary Poppins are all in development, just waiting to turn some of our favorite childhood comfort stories into tales that will keep us up at night as adults.
Pinocchio: Unstrung is headed to theaters July 24th.
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